The Hunter's Dream
by User 627
Summary: Jaune Arc's transcripts aren't exactly foolproof. Anybody who does even the slightest bit of research can see they're fake. How long before it all falls apart and the secret is out? There are consequences to forging your way into Beacon. Not everyone takes kindly to a fraud, even if well meaning.
1. Chapter 1: Hidden Layers

"Are you seriously telling me you didn't know about this, Ozpin?!"

Glynda Goodwitch slammed her hands on the headmaster's table. An act that would've gotten any subordinate fired if they tried it, but the blonde huntress had every good reason to be angry at yet another questionable act the Headmaster of Beacon Academy did.

"I assure you Glynda, I—"

"Did you, _or_ did you not know?"

The ashen haired headmaster sighed. "Yes, I knew."

"And you're telling me…that you just granted his entry to the school? _Are you out of your mind?!_ Never mind the kind of scandal this could cause, but if—when he gets hurt, what are we going to tell the Arc family?"

"Glynda, calm yourself. The boy has made friends here."

"His _friends_ ," Glynda spat. "—aren't always going to be there to protect him! You've seen him fight in class. He doesn't have what it takes."

"He's being trained—"

"He could die, Ozpin." Glynda interjected in finality. "Stop making excuses."

Ozpin breathed in and took a moment to relax. The eyes behind his glasses averted eye contact with the blonde in the room. He leaned forward and bridged a tent under his nose with his fingers.

"You're right." He started, getting a surprised reaction from the Beacon teacher. "You're absolutely correct. I accepted Jaune Arc into Beacon despite knowing his transcripts are forged. Not only have I endangered his life, but I've also used my position to suit my own needs."

Glynda could only stare at him, perplexed.

"Why?" That was the reason she came here in the first place. To know why in Remnant Ozpin would do something so stupid.

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting to receive a transcript for an Arc in Beacon this year. They are a rather famous family in our line of work, you know. I would've been looking forward to having someone from the Arc family study under Beacon."

Ozpin leaned back and pressed a switch on his computer. It pulled up the records of each Beacon student. Inputting in a few more commands, he pulled up Jaune Arc's file. The boy's image displaying on the screen for both him and Glynda to look at.

"When I first saw Jaune Arc, I didn't think too much of him but a civilian who had the gall to fake transcripts to be given a place to be accepted into Beacon. There are many more students out there, who have worked harder and deserve a place here with us. But one of them was rejected, to make room for him."

Glynda nodded in silence. She had reviewed a few other huntsman and huntresses in training that would've made for a better fit in Beacon. As big as Beacon is, the slots are limited and so they were rejected in place of Jaune Arc. She wondered if the young Arc even knew the weight of selfishness on his decision to fake transcripts.

"But…perhaps it was the idealistic part of me. I've always heard that the Arc family had quite the large auras and were known for their heroics. Maybe this Jaune Arc had what it took? Maybe in his own time, he can live up to his namesake? Please do keep in mind, Glynda, that this wasn't a decision I made on a whim. This took quite a while of contemplating before I decided to go through with it."

"Even if it was unfair to the other students?"

Ozpin nodded.

Glynda, having worked hard to become a Huntress herself, knew just how aggravating it would be to any other student to see that someone had been given a place in their prestigious academy through fake transcripts when they had to endanger themselves and get hurt as mere children to even have a chance to enter. Even more so if they knew that the school's faculty tolerated it.

"Ozpin, I'm concerned with where he even got those fake transcripts. It may be possible that young Arc had dealings with criminal operations in order to get his hands on those."

Ozpin remained silent indicating he himself knew not where Jaune got his transcripts from. When Glynda realized that she wouldn't get an answer, she decided to move on, not wanting to know herself as she was already angry enough at the young Arc to begin with.

"Regardless, the transcripts aren't as well thought out for documents designed to fool Beacon. He didn't even change his name. All it took was one phone call to the Arc family to know that he had run away and they had no knowledge of where he was."

"Glynda, did you tell them?"

"No." Glynda's response was sharp but carried venom. Remembering the conversation she had with Jaune's mother and father only served to further agitate her. "They were worried sick for him though. I decided to hear to what you had to say first before doing anything else."

There was a sigh of relief from Ozpin's mouth. "I thank you, Glynda."

If she had told them, there would've no doubt been a lot of trouble that would've followed. Jaune Arc would've been dragged out of Beacon by his own family and Ozpin would've needed to do a lot of explaining.

And that would be the best outcome! Worst case scenario (and the most likely) is that the boy would've been facing serious criminal charges for forging his way into the academy.

Glynda continued.

"I was able to learn that Jaune Arc had no Hunter training in any way. I'm curious to know how he managed to unlock his aura before coming to Beacon."

"He didn't."

Glynda's green eyes squinted. "Excuse me?"

"He didn't have any aura before coming to Beacon. It was during the initiation that one of his fellow classmates unlocked it for him. She would've gone on later to become a member of his team."

"So, it was Miss Nikos who unlocked it for him…" Glynda deposited that information. With that knowledge in mind, it didn't take much to connect the dots that she knows about his forged transcripts, not to mention her being his accomplice. Though she wasn't quite sure if his whole team was in on the secret.

"Yes. It is also with her that Jaune Arc's training resumes every night."

Hearing that, Glynda calmed down a little bit. Although not enough to completely dissuade her anger. "At least I know now that he's catching up, even if it is from special treatment."

"Now I wouldn't call what they have special treatment. He is merely being given a helping hand from one of his dearest friends."

"Oh?" Glynda raised an eyebrow in challenge. "And how many of our students can say that they've been personally trained by the Champion of Mistral? Or entering a prestigious Huntsman academy without any pre-qualifying accomplishments either? The only reason Mr. Arc even passed the Initiation is merely because he had the luck to meet with the right people, and not through his own merit."

"I can see why you would think that but I stand by my point."

Glynda nodded. She wasn't really interested in debating with Ozpin what counted as special treatment and what didn't.

"And what now? I'm guessing you want me to remain silent about this matter."

Ozpin shook his head. "I'd like for you to do what you think is best. I've always trusted your judgment, Glynda. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for going through this without so much asking for your input."

The blonde huntress sighed. Ozpin's apology took away a lot of her anger and ire. The stress of finding out about this dirty business took away a lot of her focus that should've been spent on faculty duties. Whether or not he truly meant it she would never know, but she did know that the Beacon Headmaster had a way with words. While Glynda would never say it, it did feel like Ozpin was dancing around her words with skilled eloquence.

She turned around and walked towards the exit. While she didn't quite say it, it was clear that she wasn't going to reveal Jaune Arc's little secret. Glynda however did turn around to make one final statement.

"Just how long did you expect to keep this a secret, Ozpin? Did you honestly expect this to work? He may be a first year as of now, but if he does luck out and make it to further years as an upperclassman, the world will take notice of him. And sooner or later, someone out there will find out."

With that, she turned back to heading towards the exit shaking her head.

"Endangering a child for curiosity's sake? Shame on you, Ozpin."

000

As Glynda stormed out of the Headmaster's office, she walked by another person who was trying to catch her attention.

"Um, Miss Goodwitch?"

She didn't answer him merely stopping by her tracks to give the young man a dead serious look. He noticeably flinched at her coldness.

"May I ask what this is about?" He said slowly.

"As of now, nothing that should concern you, Mr. Arc."

"But Ma'am, you're the one who asked me to wait outside..." Jaune shrank when he saw Glynda's glare intensify. "—I'm sorry I know it's none of my business, but I have been waiting out here for quite a while now and it is getting quite late."

Glynda didn't say anything for a few seconds. She merely avoided looking in his direction.

"Head back to your dorm." It wasn't a suggestion or a command to actually go back to his team's room. It was a command for him to leave her presence.

"But—"

"Now!" Glynda snapped at him.

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!"

With that, Jaune scurried away as fast as he could towards the opposite direction that his teacher wasn't facing. He didn't once look back at her direction.

Glynda could only stare at him as he disappeared from her vision. She had the urge to confront the boy and get answers straight out of the source. But for now, she decided to leave him be. She wondered just how long he could last before he was discovered. She knew it would eventually happen. At that time, her hands would no doubt be full.

It was just a matter of when.


	2. Chapter 2: Who is Jaune Arc?

Who is Jaune Arc?

That's the question on everyone's mind. Hundreds of thousands of questions has been asked all around the web trying to figure out where this boy came from. It had been a few weeks since the Vytal festival and the blonde's face was shown all around the screen for the world to see.

What particularly caught people's attention though was the last name Arc, which was a historically known figure among the populace. Jaune Arc's face bore a very striking resemblance to the late senior Arc who fought in the Great War. People started to draw the connection between the two.

The question "Who is Jaune Arc?" has practically become a full blown scandal.

Any kind of research to Jaune Arc's past can find holes and questions arise as to how he entered Beacon. He has never had any kind of huntsman curriculum before that academy. Many authorities have submitted in questions to Beacon inquiring about any kind of information about the young Arc.

So far, Ozpin has remained silent on the matter.

000

"Are you okay, Jaune?" Pyrrha looked at her friend with worry as she slowly approached him before taking a seat next to him on his bed.

Jaune responded by sighing. He had no words for the situation. If anything, the young man looked like he was seeing the end of the world—the end of _his_ world. He had no words to say. He was lost in the back confines of his own asylum.

Pyrrha's look for him could rival that of his mother's. The redhead placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The blond had no reaction to the touch. Pyrrha frowned, completely worried about her friend.

"Jaune, please say something."

She garnered no response. Her hand slipped from his shoulders. Nora and Ren were currently outside dealing with the other students who were trying to be invasive about asking questions regarding Jaune's life before Beacon.

If Pyrrha Nikkos herself could be honest, she herself knew so little about Jaune's personal life. She had known about his forged transcripts way before anyone else did. But she had kept silent about them.

Now the whole world was on the verge of discovering his secret.

It had happened a few hours after the Vytal festival tournament. One question had sparked on a popular website and had blown under proportion.

" _Who is Jaune Arc?"_

The anonymous user had asked questions regarding to Jaune's past. If he's an Arc, how come nobody has ever heard about him? His seven sisters were famous huntresses all around and had their share of fanboys.

Many investigators all around have already dug through school records and found that Jaune Arc has transcripts leading through civilian schools. People were asking if that Jaune Arc from Beacon was one and the same as the person who attended those schools.

It didn't take long for teachers, classmates, and those who knew of Jaune to speak up. They had no idea how a civilian managed to get into a prestigious huntsman academy such as Beacon. They did admit that the Jaune they saw in the Vytal Festival looked very much like the Jaune Arc that they knew of.

"Jaune, you haven't eaten at all today." Pyrrha was worried. Her blond friend had barely eaten anything yesterday. He hadn't left the room either since things went wrong. Now he isn't saying a single word. The only thing he really did was stare into space.

With a sigh, Pyrrha gave up for what could be about the tenth time today and stood up.

"If you're ever hungry, Jaune, just call on us okay? We're always here for you…"

000

Glynda Goodwitch was not a child. She didn't like repeating what she said. But she did it anyway, perhaps out of pure frustration and obvious ire. Anyone could've seen this coming in a mile away.

"I told you so." Emerald eyes glared at the Beacon Headmaster currently sitting at his desk with his face buried in his palms. The huntress teacher could see papers scattered throughout the table. Ozpin's station was a complete mess. It was from this that Glynda knew that the silver haired headmaster had been up all night doing damage control.

Still, she would be lying if she said he hadn't brought this on himself.

Even more anger flown through her veins when she knew that sooner or later, she herself would have to do a lot of work and talk to a lot of people because of this. This scandal would affect Beacon in so many ways in the eyes of the public if the truth ever came out.

"Glynda," it came out more as a moan from a tired man and didn't carry the charismatic tone Ozpin usually held. His hands slid down to reveal his face. The Beacon headmaster wasn't wearing his usual shades. They were on the table among the mess of papers scattered. There were dark bags under his eyelids. "…how are the rest of the students treating the young Arc?"

It wasn't just from the outside looking in that were curious. Even Jaune Arc's classmates and those of the upper and lower years were curious.

"Not very well, I'm afraid. They have been pressuring Jaune Arc to reveal where he went for training prior to Beacon. Some of them had been a little more than forceful. I believe they finally realized something didn't add up. They seem to personally—"

"Do you believe them justified?" Ozpin interrupted.

"What I feel does not matter." The blonde huntress dismissed his question as if she was a professional soldier. Truth be told, Glynda deep inside did feel that the students didn't deserve their hard work to be undermined by someone like the young Arc by giving him a free pass to Beacon. But she didn't believe that their mistreatment of him was justified either. They should've left it to the faculty to sort things out.

Then again, it wasn't like the faculty was doing anything in the first place.

"I suppose that's understandable." Ozpin slumped back into his seat. His eyes were staring upward to look at the ceiling. To Glynda, he honestly looked like he was defeated. She had never quite seen him like this.

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know, Glynda. I don't know."

000

"There's quite a lot of commotion going through Beacon lately." Yang Xiao Long commented as she entered the room of RWBY.

"To think that it's all because of that buffoon Arc…" Weiss Schnee made a comment while she doing her makeup in her part of the room.

"Do you really think it's true though?" Ruby looked up from the comic she was reading on her bed. "What they say about him?"

"It would make sense." Blake said without even prying her eyes away from the book she was reading. "There were a lot of things questionable about him entering Beacon."

"Such as?" Ruby asked. It may have sounded more passive-aggressive than she meant it to. She never quite stated it out loud, but she remembered that the ninja-cat of the team was a former member of the eponymous White Fang. The silver eyed Grimm slayer started to wonder how in the world Blake got the transcripts to enter Beacon in the first place with little to no suspicion from the faculty. She didn't voice it out for fear of antagonizing her teammate. She would have to ask that question another time.

"Jaune not being huntsman material for one." Blake rolled her eyes. "He's a terrible fighter. He doesn't take anything seriously in class. And most of his achievements were because of his team and not his own."

"But he's a good leader!"

"Oh please, Ruby," it was Weiss this time who spoke up. "…we'd be generous to call what he does for his team as strategy. He knows how to hold his team together, I'll give him that. But most of his tactics were just basic. His real reasons for victory were because of Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie, both of whom are very exceptional huntresses. Anybody can win with those two on their side."

"And Ren isn't bad himself." Yang added, plopping herself down on her bed.

"That doesn't make him a bad leader to use his team like that." Ruby argued.

"But that doesn't make him a good huntsman either." Blake challenged.

"Still, Rubes, do you honestly think they're telling the truth about Vomit boy when they said he probably cheated his way into Beacon?" Yang asked. "Because, truth be told, I'm a bit conflicted here. He's a good guy sure, but a huntsman? You tell me. You're pretty close with him."

Ruby closed the comic. She suddenly didn't feel like she was in the mood to read. The raven haired leader of Team RWBY remembered that first impressions of the young Arc when she entered Beacon weren't too impressive.

"I don't think Jaune's the type to do something like that. He's a good person. He tries his best and it's always been his dream to be a huntsman. I think Beacon is the best place for him to do that."

"Really?" Yang blinked. The blonde was clearly confused. "I mean for someone who tries his best, you would think that sleeping in classes is the last thing they would do. If it really is his dream to become a huntsman, then why isn't he giving it his all? I find it difficult to believe someone who didn't have any talent for the job could enter Beacon with barely any effort."

Ruby gulped. Those were good points. She liked Jaune but even she couldn't deny that her fellow team leader wasn't exactly diligent. Well, he was trying hard when it came to combat and the fun stuff, she could see that. But when it came to academics and learning more about how huntsman functioned in Remnant, he was barely awake.

If she could be honest, it felt more like Jaune was simply there to look for fun and adventure without the added responsibilities of being a huntsman. Even if people called her naïve, she knew there was more to the job than just swinging your weapon at whatever Grimm came your way.

While Ruby could definitely admit that Jaune was improving during his time here at Beacon, as evidenced during his Vytal festival performance, but that didn't mean he was cut to be a huntsman without his team. If the rumors about him cheating his way into the academy were true that simply wouldn't be fair to other students.

Still, he was her friend.

"I still don't believe he would do something like that."

"You don't believe it, or you don't _want_ to believe it?"


End file.
